Fruit basket of HA fics!
by MuddyMutty
Summary: This is a bunch of different fanfics all put in one story, because they're kind of warm up fics so I can practice for my REAL fic. You know, the one you guys all started reading and adored that I don't update enough. (If you're seeing this on the front page, go look at my other story, it's fabulous. It is my baby.) They will likely be mostly AxH, but on request I can do others.


**Hi followers! Since I clearly bit off more than I could chew in the last fic (Which I will finish sometime, I promise. I just gotta actually get used to writing. That's why I'm here. Don't be silly, why would I just abandon my baby like that? I swear I'll finish.), this is going to be a series of less serious fanfics. I probably won't proofread them either, so enjoy that. Some will be short, some long. Some funny, some sad. Some just freakin' crazy. (And yesss guys, some will eventually have... Er.. Awkward content. Because I know what you all need. And why not, right? It's not like the entire internet can see this and it'll be here forever and in a few years I'll be like 'Oh jesus why did I write that? That's so awkward and bad. I am embarrassed for myself.' IT'S NOT LIKE THAT EVER HAPPENS.) So, follow this story and it's like buying skittles. TASTE THE FREAKIN RAINBOW GUYS. I will of course label the chapters so you can see where the stories end and begin. They'll have their own titles and everything. It'll be like you're a kid again and reading one of those books that are a collection of different fairy tales. And speaking of kids... (Oh, dat segue) **

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It didn't seem like it'd been long since they were kids, getting into trouble but always finding a way out. There was never a closed door they couldn't pry open. In fact, in Helga's case, literally slipping though previously closed doors and other openings had become a bit of a specialty. Of course there were other metaphorical barriers drawn up whenever she did so. But hey, all's fair in love and war right? You can't do away with that the heart screams. That's what she believed. That's what she'd taught them _all_ to believe. Time has a way of changing things though. One moment, life is a river and you're in a raft, and all you have to do is patch up the holes and you're home free; the next moment, it's chaos. Suddenly life isn't so easy, and the heart can't always earn what it deserves though pure determination. She'd learned that the hard way. No more were the days of joy as everyone is swept into deeper waters, and the tides of hardship flipped over their lifeboat and Helga's friends got swept away in the crossfire of bills, hospitals and distant job opportunities. As hard as she tried, the algae in the water made the raft slip from her fingers, and she regretfully said goodbye to her dreams. A thousand paper books wont keep you afloat in the ocean, after all. You can't build a dam when there are no walls. You have to fight constantly to stay afloat without aid, or forever drown in the abyss as many exhausted souls have before.

As luck would have it, Helga's soul was just the right type to put up a seemingly endless fight, battling physical exertion with her mental strength. Whenever her muscles cried for her body to give out, her heart denied any kind of loss and infused her with a passion for life. And that brings us to today.

Helga's pen tapped relentlessly at the page in her notebook as she tried to tune out the angry shouts of children outside the room. "A babysitter. Phooey. Who'da thought that _Helga G. Pataki_ would watch little shrimps for cash?" She mumbled to herself, ending it with a soft snort. She capped her pen, shoved her things back into her bag and rose to her feet. "Calm down out there, I'll call for a flippin' pizza. Crimeny!" As soon as she opened the door, she was knocked to the ground by an energetic and overly clingy 7 year old. "Helgaaaa! Tell Antony ta stop touching my dolls! He keeps rubbing his greasy fingers in her hair and now they all smell like sweat and eggs!"

Helga sat up, but was unable to stand as the young girl sat on her legs. She slapped herself in the face and sighed again. "Okay Jade. Here's what you gotta do; you need to stand up for yourself. If you don't, he's just gonna wait until your mom comes back and do it again. Take one of his toys and hide it, and keep doing that until he gives up. Can you do that?"

Jades eyes grew wide and she stared admirably at Helga. "Whoa Helga, how'd you get to be so smart?" She gasped while clumsily climbing to her feet, then darting out of the room. Then came a muffled shriek as Antony watched her gather all his toys and run out of the room. The blonde 20 year old grinned. "Another problem solved." She then crawled sneakily out of the door and silently closed it behind her, heading to the kitchen before standing and lazily tugging her phone from the front loft pocket of her jeans. As she flipped it open she scowled, which melted into a solemn frown as her eyes ran across her phones wallpaper. It was a photo of her and Arnold when they were 16, splashing water at each other at the beach. Phoebe had taken the photo with the correct assumption that her best friend would like to have it later. She stared at it for a good 15 seconds, the normal routine, before dialing the number for the cheapest delivery place and asking for a cheese pizza.

Arnold had left a week after that photo was taken, completely out of nowhere. He'd gotten a letter from his dad explaining where they'd been and how they had a stable home out there, but couldn't visit since the Green Eyed People still needed them. Phoebe had left to attend Harvard as soon as she graduated high school, and while it was a heartbreaking move, it was necessary for her future. Survival is, after all, technically more important than friendship. While they did call each other, it wasn't anywhere near frequent. So there Helga was, enrolled in a cheap community college and babysitting after her part time job every weekday. Not that the weekdays were any trouble; the weekends left her lonely, and she'd mourn her missing love. She never got the chance to tell him how she felt.

The next few hours dragged on as her eyelids grew heavier and her patience drew thin. When the mother of the two kids arrived home, Helga couldn't wait to get out of there. She picked up some fast food and drove straight to her dorm, where she fell asleep in her clothes right after eating... at around 8 PM. Which was perfect, since she had to get up at 4 to finish her homework before going straight to college. You can see where this would leave a nice distraction to her love life.

Of course, the 5 days of the week proved to be not nearly enough. When Saturday morning came and she awoke before the sun, she was stuck laying in her bed in a silent room with nothing to do except remember her dreams from the week. Most of them consisted of her beloved, that moment she said goodbye to him at the airport as just friends. She curled up and cried silently, wishing it was a weekday. Today was different though, even if she didn't know it yet. Today, just as suddenly as he'd left, Arnold would come home; but would he be the same Arnold that had left, or would he only wear the same skin?


End file.
